Record: 124 - 48 ( 12-7 GOTD )
Games of the day
#1. Florida at Kentucky
Florida usually plays to the occaison. They better today. Florida's still undefeated in SEC play while Kentucky stands at 7-2. Kentucky's got the Rupp advantage and desperately wants to show they're still a power in the SEC East this year. What's missing is the talent. After Morris, Bradley, and Crawford walk onto the court, the rest just look like spare parts that'd be walk ons on different UK teams. Freshman wing Jodie Meeks has been playing very well of late, but he's the only guy off the bench that I can see doing anything offensively against the Gators. Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, and "Woo" Obrzut? No thank you. Freshman PF Perry Stevenson couldn't catch an entry pass to save his life and has little offensive game to speak of, but at least he can play some defense. Freshman "point guard" Derrick Jasper's another whose offense hasn't even come close to developing yet, though his defense on Brewer or Green may be invaluable.
If Kentucky had the name "Ole Miss" on their uniform, would anybody really expect them to beat Florida today? Florida's just got way too much talent with four future pros in the starting lineup and more coming off the bench against Kentucky's...Bobby Perry?
Florida 73 Kentucky 69
#2. Marquette at Georgetown
Marquette, led by the best guard trio in the Big East, tries to push tempo and utilizes only one "true back to the basket" type big man in Ousmane Barro. On the other hand, Georgetown runs the Princeton style offense and wouldn't mind if both teams ended up with under 100 possessions total. Big men 7'2 278 C Roy Hibbert and 6'9 235 F Jeff Green lead the way for the Hoyas. Marquette comes into the game having won 8 in a row, including four on the road, and Georgetown also comes in with a six game winning streak.
As I mentioned earlier, Marquette only uses one true big man. Well, Georgetown only uses two guards the entire game. It's going to be interesting to see which team ends up at a matchup disadvantage. Georgetown is good in transition defense and play an excruciating pace of basketball that might frustrate the Golden Eagles. In the end though, Marquette just has too much around the perimeter. Georgetown doesn't have one single guard that's as good as Marquette's Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews. Barro has also been playing really well on the defensive end and is big enough to matchup well with Hibbert.
Marquette 68 Georgetown 65
#3. Arizona at Oregon
Arizona's only 2-4 on the road and struggled with Oregon State in their previous game on Thursday. They played a back and forth game with little defense against the Ducks in mid-January before finally succumbing to Aaron Brooks' last second bank shot. Oregon has more depth, even more scoring options, and the homecourt advantage. I don't see how they lose.
Oregon 85 Arizona 77
#4. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Vanderbilt got their hot streak started by winning on a buzzer beater at home over the Vols by one. In Tennessee's last game, their first getting Lofton back in four games, against LSU at home they weren't particularly impressive. Their press didn't really force guardless LSU into that many bad decisions. Really, LSU, who isn't exactly known for ball handling this year, fared pretty well against the press. If LSU can do decently against it, Vanderbilt, who starts four guards, should excel in an up tempo game. Tennessee's defense has been horrid over the past month, but it's always tough to win in Thompson-Boling Arena ( The Summit, is that emasculating? ) - particularly under Bruce Pearl. In fact, they're undefeated there so far this year.
It's all up to the guards in this one as there are only two big men that won't end up sneaking out to the perimeter ( Duke Crews for UT and Ted Skuchas for Vandy ). I know it doesn't matter if Lofton's guarded or not, but Shan Foster or Derrick Byars for VU can certainly shadow him on defense very well. On offense, I think Foster and Byars can also do as they please as UT doesn't have anybody on defense that can match up well with either one - except maybe Bradshaw and Josh Tabb. Unfortunately for the Vols, they're both a liability on the offensive end. Vandy has too much firepower as Lofton's still hobbled a little bit by his ankle injury.
Vanderbilt 85 Tennesseee 81
#5. Virginia at Virginia Tech
After starting so well in ACC play, the Hokies have been blown out in consecutive games by N.C. State and BC. The opposite's true for Virginia as they're just now playing their best basketball of the year. They don't have any problem playing on the road either, having won at Clemson, N.C. State, and Maryland during their current seven game winning streak.
Virginia's got the offense with their guards and VT's got the defense ( though not recently ). The Hokies have a tough remaining schedule left and can't afford to go back on the bubble with a loss today. They'll get a much needed win before their rematch with UNC on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech 76 Virginia 72
#6. Creighton at Southern Illinois
SIU is undefeated at home, play the most ferocious defense in the Missouri Valley, and beat Creighton in Omaha earlier this year by a point. You would think that all adds up to a win for SIU. And you'd be right. I'm not sure, even with POY candidate Nate Funk, the Bluejays can win today. Creighton has more a lot more meat in the paint with Anthony Tolliver/Dane Watts and that's the only way I can see them exploiting SIU's defense. It may not matter with defensive specialist Randal Falker on one of them.
Southern Illinois 63 Creighton 56
#7. VCU at Old Dominion
The Monarchs of ODU come in as one of the hottest teams in CAA play having won six in a row including two tough road games at Drexel and George Mason. Their last loss on January 20th was actually at the hands of VCU by 5 on the road. They've been doing it with great defense and haven't allowed a team to shoot over 39% in four out of their last six games. VCU has been very good on the road having won 8 of 9, butI think Old Dominion's too good at home and their smothering defense forces VCU, not known as a good shooting team this year anyways, into a low shooting percentage in a close game.
Old Dominion 70 VCU 65
#8. UCLA at West Virginia
West Virginia ran into a brick wall defense in their last game against Pitt at home. Unfortunately for them, they face another. For UCLA, it all starts on defense with superb PG Darren Collison. Though he may not play in today's game, the Bruins still have plenty of other weapons on offense and defense to beat WVU. The Mountaineers have nothing that can match up with UCLA bigs Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata.
UCLA 68 West Virginia 59
#9. Alabama at Ole Miss
Alabama played badly once again in their last game against Mississippi State but keeps coming away with wins. They had no prayer of stopping Jamont Gordon, who finished with 27 points and 9 boards, continued to give up wide open 3s, and have no prayer of beating Ole Miss in the Tad Pad if their defense doesn't improve. Well, unless Steele can play like he's taking the last shot for the win the whole game. Fortunately for Alabama, Ole Miss doesn't have a Jamont Gordon. Unforuntately for Alabama, their three leading scorers can all nail threes. That's always been a huge problem for Alabama - particularly on the road. At least Brandon Hollinger, the spark plug point guard that's replaced Mykal Riley in the lineup for defensive purposes, matches up much better against Ole Miss than he did against MSU. In the end though, it probably won't matter as Todd Abernethy or Clarence Sanders or Bam Doyne or some walk on will nail 10+ threes today. I can't pick Alabama on the road until they can show me just once they can play some solid defense, the LSU games withstanding.
Ole Miss 84 Alabama 73
A-10
Dayton 74 St. Bonaventure 60
St. Joseph's 68 La Salle 61
Fordham 74 Charlotte 69
George Washington 76 Xavier 67
ACC
North Carolina 93 Wake Forest 67
N.C. State 73 Miami 67
A-Sun
Campbell 79 Mercer 74
East Tennessee State 76 North Florida 62
Jacksonville 70 Kennesaw State 61
Gardner-Webb 74 Stetson 69
Big 12
Texas 81 Iowa State 64
Kansas 79 Missouri 70
Oklahoma 73 Baylor 66
Oklahoma State 77 Texas Tech 67
Kansas State 84 Colorado 72
Texas A&M 66 Nebraska 59
Big East
Villanova 76 Seton Hall 67
Louisville 69 South Florida 61
Rutgers 63 Cincinnati 60
Pittsburgh 72 Providence 59
Big Sky
Northern Arizona 77 Idaho State 73
Montana 76 Montana State 75
Eastern Washington 88 Portland State 83
Big South
VMI 109 UNC-Asheville 98
Liberty 79 Charleston Southern 64
Winthrop 80 Radford 61
High Point 73 Coastal Carolina 68
Big Ten
Ohio State 75 Purdue 62
Indiana 73 Illinois 64
Wisconsin 76 Iowa 71
Northwestern 61 Penn State 59
Michigan 75 Minnesota 58
Big West
Cal Poly 75 UC Irvine 69
Pacific 77 UC Riverside 65
Long Beach State 74 UC-Santa Barbara 72
CSU-Fullerton 87 CSU-Northridge 83
CAA
Towson 83 Georgia State 68
Drexel 79 Delaware 58
Hofstra 72 George Mason 68
UNC-Wilmington 67 William & Mary 65
Northeastern 67 James Madison 61
C-USA
UCF 73 Marshall 60
Southern Miss 67 Tulsa 65
UAB 77 UTEP 70
Memphis 86 Tulane 67
SMU 70 Rice 66
Houston 80 East Carolina 63
Horizon
Detroit 73 Illinois-Chicago 65
Butler 72 Wright State 69
Loyola ( IL ) 76 Wisconsin-Green Bay 74
Independents
North Dakota State 79 N.J.I.T 63
Utah Valley State 81 Texas-Pan American 72
Chicago State 83 East-West University 56
IPFW 77 South Dakota State 62
Winston-Salem State 94 Columbia Union 71
Ivy
Columbia 66 Brown 61
Cornell 72 Yale 68
Penn 84 Harvard 73
Princeton 56 Dartmouth 50
MAC
Bowling Green 76 Eastern Michigan 66
Ohio 79 Northern Illinois 59
Miami U. 61 Ball State 53
Buffalo 72 Central Michigan 64
Akron 76 Toledo 71
Mid-Continent
Oakland 78 Valparaiso 69
IUPUI 70 Western Illinois 63
UMKC 73 Centenary 71
Oral Roberts 75 Southern Utah 66
MEAC
Coppin State 69 Norfolk State 67
North Carolina A&T 73 Bethune-Cookman 58
Morgan State 68 Hampton 65
Florida A&M 71 South Carolina State 70
Delaware State 69 Howard 52
MVC
Bradley 75 Drake 69
Missouri State 74 Northern Iowa 67
Mountain West
San Diego State 80 Colorado State 78
Air Force 66 New Mexico 62
BYU 74 TCU 65
UNLV 81 Wyoming 72
NEC
Central Connecticut State 68 Quinnipiac 61
Sacred Heart 86 Wagner 81
Robert Morris 85 Mt. Saint Mary's 83
OVC
Samford 63 Austin Peay 58
Eastern Kentucky 77 SE Missouri State 73
Murray State 69 Morehead State 62
Tennessee Tech 79 Tennessee State 69
UT-Martin 68 Eastern Illinois 65
Pac-10
Washington State 70 California 59
Arizona State 59 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 66 Lafayette 59
Lehigh 64 Army 57
SEC
LSU 68 Arkansas 64
Mississippi State 75 Auburn 70
Georiga 73 South Carolina 69
Southern
Appalachian State 81 Wofford 72
Furman 67 Elon 57
Western Carolina 68 Georgia Southern 64
Charleston 77 UNC-Greensboro 75
Chattanooga 67 Citadel 58
Southland
Texas A&M CC 83 SE Louisiana 76
McNeese State 70 UT-Arlington 64
Nicholls State 75 UT-San Antonio 71
Sam Houston State 71 Central Arkansas 54
Lamar 86 Texas State 77
SWAC
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 56 Southern 52
Alabama State 63 Alabama A&M 58
Jackson State 72 Texas Southern 61
Grambling State 64 Prairie View A&M 55
Mississippi Valley State 67 Alcorn State 61
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 79 Middle Tennessee State 68
Louisiana Monroe 83 North Texas 80
Florida Atlantic 77 FIU 64
UA-Little Rock 73 Troy 68
New Orleans 77 Denver 65
WCC
San Diego 77 Loyola Marymount 73
Gonzaga 80 St. Mary's 67
San Francisco 89 Pepperdine 76
Santa Clara 72 Portland 65
WAC
Boise State 65 San Jose State 58
New Mexico State 76 Fresno State 74
Utah State 75 Idaho 61
Hawaii 73 Louisiana Tech 58
Games of the day
#1. Florida at Kentucky
Florida usually plays to the occaison. They better today. Florida's still undefeated in SEC play while Kentucky stands at 7-2. Kentucky's got the Rupp advantage and desperately wants to show they're still a power in the SEC East this year. What's missing is the talent. After Morris, Bradley, and Crawford walk onto the court, the rest just look like spare parts that'd be walk ons on different UK teams. Freshman wing Jodie Meeks has been playing very well of late, but he's the only guy off the bench that I can see doing anything offensively against the Gators. Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, and "Woo" Obrzut? No thank you. Freshman PF Perry Stevenson couldn't catch an entry pass to save his life and has little offensive game to speak of, but at least he can play some defense. Freshman "point guard" Derrick Jasper's another whose offense hasn't even come close to developing yet, though his defense on Brewer or Green may be invaluable.
If Kentucky had the name "Ole Miss" on their uniform, would anybody really expect them to beat Florida today? Florida's just got way too much talent with four future pros in the starting lineup and more coming off the bench against Kentucky's...Bobby Perry?
Florida 73 Kentucky 69
#2. Marquette at Georgetown
Marquette, led by the best guard trio in the Big East, tries to push tempo and utilizes only one "true back to the basket" type big man in Ousmane Barro. On the other hand, Georgetown runs the Princeton style offense and wouldn't mind if both teams ended up with under 100 possessions total. Big men 7'2 278 C Roy Hibbert and 6'9 235 F Jeff Green lead the way for the Hoyas. Marquette comes into the game having won 8 in a row, including four on the road, and Georgetown also comes in with a six game winning streak.
As I mentioned earlier, Marquette only uses one true big man. Well, Georgetown only uses two guards the entire game. It's going to be interesting to see which team ends up at a matchup disadvantage. Georgetown is good in transition defense and play an excruciating pace of basketball that might frustrate the Golden Eagles. In the end though, Marquette just has too much around the perimeter. Georgetown doesn't have one single guard that's as good as Marquette's Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews. Barro has also been playing really well on the defensive end and is big enough to matchup well with Hibbert.
Marquette 68 Georgetown 65
#3. Arizona at Oregon
Arizona's only 2-4 on the road and struggled with Oregon State in their previous game on Thursday. They played a back and forth game with little defense against the Ducks in mid-January before finally succumbing to Aaron Brooks' last second bank shot. Oregon has more depth, even more scoring options, and the homecourt advantage. I don't see how they lose.
Oregon 85 Arizona 77
#4. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Vanderbilt got their hot streak started by winning on a buzzer beater at home over the Vols by one. In Tennessee's last game, their first getting Lofton back in four games, against LSU at home they weren't particularly impressive. Their press didn't really force guardless LSU into that many bad decisions. Really, LSU, who isn't exactly known for ball handling this year, fared pretty well against the press. If LSU can do decently against it, Vanderbilt, who starts four guards, should excel in an up tempo game. Tennessee's defense has been horrid over the past month, but it's always tough to win in Thompson-Boling Arena ( The Summit, is that emasculating? ) - particularly under Bruce Pearl. In fact, they're undefeated there so far this year.
It's all up to the guards in this one as there are only two big men that won't end up sneaking out to the perimeter ( Duke Crews for UT and Ted Skuchas for Vandy ). I know it doesn't matter if Lofton's guarded or not, but Shan Foster or Derrick Byars for VU can certainly shadow him on defense very well. On offense, I think Foster and Byars can also do as they please as UT doesn't have anybody on defense that can match up well with either one - except maybe Bradshaw and Josh Tabb. Unfortunately for the Vols, they're both a liability on the offensive end. Vandy has too much firepower as Lofton's still hobbled a little bit by his ankle injury.
Vanderbilt 85 Tennesseee 81
#5. Virginia at Virginia Tech
After starting so well in ACC play, the Hokies have been blown out in consecutive games by N.C. State and BC. The opposite's true for Virginia as they're just now playing their best basketball of the year. They don't have any problem playing on the road either, having won at Clemson, N.C. State, and Maryland during their current seven game winning streak.
Virginia's got the offense with their guards and VT's got the defense ( though not recently ). The Hokies have a tough remaining schedule left and can't afford to go back on the bubble with a loss today. They'll get a much needed win before their rematch with UNC on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech 76 Virginia 72
#6. Creighton at Southern Illinois
SIU is undefeated at home, play the most ferocious defense in the Missouri Valley, and beat Creighton in Omaha earlier this year by a point. You would think that all adds up to a win for SIU. And you'd be right. I'm not sure, even with POY candidate Nate Funk, the Bluejays can win today. Creighton has more a lot more meat in the paint with Anthony Tolliver/Dane Watts and that's the only way I can see them exploiting SIU's defense. It may not matter with defensive specialist Randal Falker on one of them.
Southern Illinois 63 Creighton 56
#7. VCU at Old Dominion
The Monarchs of ODU come in as one of the hottest teams in CAA play having won six in a row including two tough road games at Drexel and George Mason. Their last loss on January 20th was actually at the hands of VCU by 5 on the road. They've been doing it with great defense and haven't allowed a team to shoot over 39% in four out of their last six games. VCU has been very good on the road having won 8 of 9, butI think Old Dominion's too good at home and their smothering defense forces VCU, not known as a good shooting team this year anyways, into a low shooting percentage in a close game.
Old Dominion 70 VCU 65
#8. UCLA at West Virginia
West Virginia ran into a brick wall defense in their last game against Pitt at home. Unfortunately for them, they face another. For UCLA, it all starts on defense with superb PG Darren Collison. Though he may not play in today's game, the Bruins still have plenty of other weapons on offense and defense to beat WVU. The Mountaineers have nothing that can match up with UCLA bigs Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata.
UCLA 68 West Virginia 59
#9. Alabama at Ole Miss
Alabama played badly once again in their last game against Mississippi State but keeps coming away with wins. They had no prayer of stopping Jamont Gordon, who finished with 27 points and 9 boards, continued to give up wide open 3s, and have no prayer of beating Ole Miss in the Tad Pad if their defense doesn't improve. Well, unless Steele can play like he's taking the last shot for the win the whole game. Fortunately for Alabama, Ole Miss doesn't have a Jamont Gordon. Unforuntately for Alabama, their three leading scorers can all nail threes. That's always been a huge problem for Alabama - particularly on the road. At least Brandon Hollinger, the spark plug point guard that's replaced Mykal Riley in the lineup for defensive purposes, matches up much better against Ole Miss than he did against MSU. In the end though, it probably won't matter as Todd Abernethy or Clarence Sanders or Bam Doyne or some walk on will nail 10+ threes today. I can't pick Alabama on the road until they can show me just once they can play some solid defense, the LSU games withstanding.
Ole Miss 84 Alabama 73
A-10
Dayton 74 St. Bonaventure 60
St. Joseph's 68 La Salle 61
Fordham 74 Charlotte 69
George Washington 76 Xavier 67
ACC
North Carolina 93 Wake Forest 67
N.C. State 73 Miami 67
A-Sun
Campbell 79 Mercer 74
East Tennessee State 76 North Florida 62
Jacksonville 70 Kennesaw State 61
Gardner-Webb 74 Stetson 69
Big 12
Texas 81 Iowa State 64
Kansas 79 Missouri 70
Oklahoma 73 Baylor 66
Oklahoma State 77 Texas Tech 67
Kansas State 84 Colorado 72
Texas A&M 66 Nebraska 59
Big East
Villanova 76 Seton Hall 67
Louisville 69 South Florida 61
Rutgers 63 Cincinnati 60
Pittsburgh 72 Providence 59
Big Sky
Northern Arizona 77 Idaho State 73
Montana 76 Montana State 75
Eastern Washington 88 Portland State 83
Big South
VMI 109 UNC-Asheville 98
Liberty 79 Charleston Southern 64
Winthrop 80 Radford 61
High Point 73 Coastal Carolina 68
Big Ten
Ohio State 75 Purdue 62
Indiana 73 Illinois 64
Wisconsin 76 Iowa 71
Northwestern 61 Penn State 59
Michigan 75 Minnesota 58
Big West
Cal Poly 75 UC Irvine 69
Pacific 77 UC Riverside 65
Long Beach State 74 UC-Santa Barbara 72
CSU-Fullerton 87 CSU-Northridge 83
CAA
Towson 83 Georgia State 68
Drexel 79 Delaware 58
Hofstra 72 George Mason 68
UNC-Wilmington 67 William & Mary 65
Northeastern 67 James Madison 61
C-USA
UCF 73 Marshall 60
Southern Miss 67 Tulsa 65
UAB 77 UTEP 70
Memphis 86 Tulane 67
SMU 70 Rice 66
Houston 80 East Carolina 63
Horizon
Detroit 73 Illinois-Chicago 65
Butler 72 Wright State 69
Loyola ( IL ) 76 Wisconsin-Green Bay 74
Independents
North Dakota State 79 N.J.I.T 63
Utah Valley State 81 Texas-Pan American 72
Chicago State 83 East-West University 56
IPFW 77 South Dakota State 62
Winston-Salem State 94 Columbia Union 71
Ivy
Columbia 66 Brown 61
Cornell 72 Yale 68
Penn 84 Harvard 73
Princeton 56 Dartmouth 50
MAC
Bowling Green 76 Eastern Michigan 66
Ohio 79 Northern Illinois 59
Miami U. 61 Ball State 53
Buffalo 72 Central Michigan 64
Akron 76 Toledo 71
Mid-Continent
Oakland 78 Valparaiso 69
IUPUI 70 Western Illinois 63
UMKC 73 Centenary 71
Oral Roberts 75 Southern Utah 66
MEAC
Coppin State 69 Norfolk State 67
North Carolina A&T 73 Bethune-Cookman 58
Morgan State 68 Hampton 65
Florida A&M 71 South Carolina State 70
Delaware State 69 Howard 52
MVC
Bradley 75 Drake 69
Missouri State 74 Northern Iowa 67
Mountain West
San Diego State 80 Colorado State 78
Air Force 66 New Mexico 62
BYU 74 TCU 65
UNLV 81 Wyoming 72
NEC
Central Connecticut State 68 Quinnipiac 61
Sacred Heart 86 Wagner 81
Robert Morris 85 Mt. Saint Mary's 83
OVC
Samford 63 Austin Peay 58
Eastern Kentucky 77 SE Missouri State 73
Murray State 69 Morehead State 62
Tennessee Tech 79 Tennessee State 69
UT-Martin 68 Eastern Illinois 65
Pac-10
Washington State 70 California 59
Arizona State 59 Oregon State 55
Patriot
Navy 66 Lafayette 59
Lehigh 64 Army 57
SEC
LSU 68 Arkansas 64
Mississippi State 75 Auburn 70
Georiga 73 South Carolina 69
Southern
Appalachian State 81 Wofford 72
Furman 67 Elon 57
Western Carolina 68 Georgia Southern 64
Charleston 77 UNC-Greensboro 75
Chattanooga 67 Citadel 58
Southland
Texas A&M CC 83 SE Louisiana 76
McNeese State 70 UT-Arlington 64
Nicholls State 75 UT-San Antonio 71
Sam Houston State 71 Central Arkansas 54
Lamar 86 Texas State 77
SWAC
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 56 Southern 52
Alabama State 63 Alabama A&M 58
Jackson State 72 Texas Southern 61
Grambling State 64 Prairie View A&M 55
Mississippi Valley State 67 Alcorn State 61
Sun Belt
Western Kentucky 79 Middle Tennessee State 68
Louisiana Monroe 83 North Texas 80
Florida Atlantic 77 FIU 64
UA-Little Rock 73 Troy 68
New Orleans 77 Denver 65
WCC
San Diego 77 Loyola Marymount 73
Gonzaga 80 St. Mary's 67
San Francisco 89 Pepperdine 76
Santa Clara 72 Portland 65
WAC
Boise State 65 San Jose State 58
New Mexico State 76 Fresno State 74
Utah State 75 Idaho 61
Hawaii 73 Louisiana Tech 58
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